10th June, 2022 Current Affairs
Archana Lakkavajula
National
EC announces schedule for presidential elections; polling to be held on July 18
- Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the Election of 16th President of India. Announcing the poll schedule in New Delhi, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said, poll will be held on 18th of July.
- Notification for the poll will be issued on 15th of June and last date for filing of nominations will be 29th of this month. Scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on 30th of this month. The counting will be taken up on 21st of July. Term of office of President Ram Nath Kovind is ending on 24th of next month.
- The President is elected by an electoral college comprising elected members of Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies. It also includes Legislative Assemblies of Delhi and Puducherry.
- Mr. Kumar said, election will be held by secret ballot in accordance with system of proportional representation as per the Constitution.
- The Chief Election Commissioner said, total number of electors will be 4,809 including 776 Members of Parliament and 4,033 Members of Legislative Assemblies. Total value of the votes will be 10 lakh 86 thousand 431.
Coal Ministry finalizes Action Plan Document for 2022-23
- Coal Ministry has finalized Action Plan Document for the year 2022-23.
- The Action Plan broadly focuses on 15 crucial areas including Grey Hydrogen, Energy Transition, Restructuring Coal Mines, Provident Fund Organization, Coal evacuation, Regulatory Mechanism for Coal and Coal Pricing Reforms.
- This is for the second time that an agenda document for the year has been brought out in the form of a compilation. It has been provided to all senior functionaries who have been given the responsibility of steering the focus areas through the year with regular monitoring and appraisals.
- The areas covered step-up the major reforms done in the last few years and also give direction for covering and meeting the existing and the emerging challenges of the coal sector.
- The Action Plan covers the entire gamut of areas for steering the Coal Sector into new technologies while focusing on the core competence of increasing production targets. Coking Coal Mission had been launched by the Ministry for enhancement of coking coal production from 45 Million Tonnes in 2020-21 to 140 MTs by 2029-30 which includes 105 MTs from Coal India Limited.
New guidelines to protect interests of consumer from misleading publicity come into effect
- The Union Government has notified new guidelines for fair advertising to protect interests of the consumer from misleading publicity of the product and service.
- These guidelines have come into effect from today. These will prohibit surrogate advertising and prescribe conditions for bait advertisements and commercials targeting children.
- Briefing media in New Delhi, Secretary of Ministry of Consumer Affairs Rohit Kumar Singh said, these guidelines will apply to all advertisements regardless of form, format or medium.
- He said, these guidelines will not only safeguard the interest of the consumer, but also make industry understand about the genuinity of the advertisements so that it can refrain itself from doing misleading publicity. Mr. Singh said, if any product and advertisement is found to be violating these guidelines, they will face strict action by Central Consumer Protection Authority, CCPA.
- While talking about the actions CCPA took in recent times, Additional Secretary Nidhi Khare said, since the inception of the authority, around 113 notices have been sent to either manufacturer or advertiser for misleading publicity.
International
WHO says its latest investigation into origins of COVID-19 inconclusive due to lack of data from China
- The World Health Organization has said that its latest investigation into the origins of COVID-19 was inconclusive, largely because data from China is missing.
A report:
- The report from the WHO expert panel said all available data showed the novel corona virus that causes COVID-19 probably came from animals, likely bats, a similar conclusion to the UN agency's previous work on the topic in 2021 that followed a trip to China.
- The missing data, especially from China, where the first cases were reported in December 2019, meant it was not possible to identify exactly how the virus was first transmitted to humans. The findings are likely to add to doubts whether it will be possible to determine how and where the virus emerged.
- Scientists say it is important to establish the origins of the pandemic, which has killed at least 15 million people to prevent similar outbreaks in future.
Bangladesh-India bus services resume after two years
- The passenger bus services between Bangladesh and India resumed on Friday, June 10 with the flagging off of the bus from Dhaka to Kolkata in the morning. The flagging off marked the opening of the bus services through the Akhaura-Agartala and Benapole-Haridaspur Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) between the two countries.
- The opening of the bus-services comes less than two weeks after the passenger train service between the two countries were started on May 29 with the flagging off of the Maitree Express and Bandhan Express train between Dhaka-Kolkata and Kolkata-Khulna respectively. A new biweekly train named Mitali Express between New Jalpaiguri and Dhaka was also flagged off by the Railway Ministers of India and Bangladesh on 1st June.
- The High Commission of India in Dhaka said in a press release that the opening of the bus services will boost tourism and strengthen the people to people contact between the two countries. The bus services through the Dawki-Tamabil ICP will start after the necessary clearances are obtained between the two countries. It is a ‘major step forward in enhancing affordable, people-centric connectivity’ between the two countries, tweeted the High Commission of India.
Iran begins removing 27 of UN watchdog's monitoring equipment: IAEA
- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) yesterday said that Iran has begun removing 27 of the United Nations watchdog's monitoring equipment. This equipment was installed under the 2015 nuclear deal.
- The IAEA revelations come as tensions have mounted with Iran over its nuclear programme, with Tehran enriching uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.
- On other hand, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Iran to cooperate with the IAEA. Mr. Blinken further said, Iran's actions threatened the possible restoration of the 2015 nuclear deal.
- He said that negotiations on the Iran nuclear deal can only conclude if Tehran drops its extraneous demands. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the 2015 agreement is called, was aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
Economy
RBI Governor says, comprehensive regulatory framework to be introduced to curb illicit loans
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s Governor Shaktikant Das said that a comprehensive regulatory framework will be introduced to curb illicit loans through digital channels. This is a new challenge to face and resolve.
- Governor Shaktikant Das was delivering the first lecture at the Iconic Week Celebration of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. The e-lectures series on financial important topics, related to the National issues is organized on this Iconic Week.
- In his keynote address, Governor Shaktikant Das dwelt upon the topic 'Indian trade - past, present and future'. He said, the country has effected a number of strategic changes over the years.
- Mr. Das further said that new regulations were made for financial institutions. The new rules for civic cooperative banks are being worked out and will be issued soon.
- The apex bank Governor said, concepts like artificial intelligence have changed the old system and created opportunities for new entrepreneurs. Guiding to the young entrepreneurs, he said, Young entrepreneurs and start-ups should constantly study the dangers and uncertainties ahead of them. It is essential for long-term and sustainable existence.
Sports
Indonesia Masters Badminton: India’s PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen move into quarter-finals
- Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and India’s highest-ranked men’s badminton player Lakshya Sen won their respective second-round matches at the Indonesia Masters 2022 in Jakarta on Thursday.
- PV Sindhu, seventh in the badminton world rankings, defeated world No. 30 Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia 23-21, 20-22, 21-11 in the second round of the women’s singles at Istora Stadium.
- World championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen, meanwhile, defeated world No. 13 Rasmus Gemke of Denmark in straight games.
- In the quarter-finals, Lakshya Sen will have his task cut out against the World No. 4 Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei. The two faced off at the Thomas Cup last month in which the Indian suffered a 21-19, 13-21, 21-17 defeat.
Published date : 10 Jun 2022 06:20PM